Cigarettes are typically categorized according to their delivery of tar (nicotine free, dry particulate matter) under standard test procedures such as the one established in 1967 by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The FTC method includes machine drawn puffs at 35 cm3 volume for 2-second duration each, at 60-second intervals. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has a similar smoking protocol.
In the 1990s, additional smoking protocols were proposed, including that of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH), one of the so-called intense smoking regimes. The MDPH method includes machine drawn puffs at 45 cm3 volume for 2-second duration each, at 30-second intervals, with 50% of the cigarette filter ventilation holes blocked.
It has been found that commercial lit-end cigarettes tend to produce higher tar than FTC deliveries when puff draw volume, frequency of draw and/or puff duration are increased and/or ventilation holes are occluded in whole or in part. This tendency is reflected, for example, in differences in measurement of tar (FTC) and tar (MDPH) (i.e., Tar (mg/cigt)MDPH/Tar (mg/cigt)FTC), with tar (MDPH) being representative of a more intense drawing condition over that of the former.